Gunther von Hagens’ BODY WORLDS 3, which opened Friday at the Saint Louis Science Center, offers many sources of fascination – the inner body, the macabre, science, art.
It also teaches clear messages about preventable health problems attributed to smoking, heavy drinking, poor diets and risky lifestyles.
Von Hagens’ plastination process replaces water and fat in donated bodies with polymers. The method halts decomposition and preserves the body after death for medical study. Their formula, developed in 1977, is used by more than 400 medical schools and universities worldwide.
BODY WORLDS 3 includes more than 200 full-body specimens, bones, body slices and organs. Among many other stories these specimens tell, the exhibit shows the effects of not taking proper care of yourself.
Normal lungs are displayed next to lungs blackened with tar deposits from years of smoking.
Livers distorted from cirrhosis and cancerous tumors are contrasted with health livers.
A healthy heart is juxtaposed to a heart broken by myocardial infarction.
Obesity – another American killer – lays out a cross-section of life for many of the living who struggle against it. The vertically-sliced specimen reveals how organs and the entire body are overwhelmed by fatty tissue.
“It’s a meditation on life,” said Dr. Angelina Whalley, designer of the BODY WORLDS exhibitions, director of the Institute for Plastination in Heidelberg, Germany and von Hagen’s wife.
“So, by looking at these dead bodies, we hope people will strive for healthier lifestyles.”
A statement displayed at the beginning of the exhibit describes its focus as “the nature of our physical being,” the innermost workings of human beings.
“We wish to show the beauty of the body’s interior for those who want to see it,” Whalley said.
Full-body specimens have most skin and fatty tissues removed. The curing, dissecting and plastination process can take several months or years. Skin color used to tear people apart is peeled away to reveal that humans are indistinguishable.
“You can’t visually tell any difference (between different races),” said Georgina Gomez, director of development for BODY WORLDS.
Gomez said their exhibits have resulted in increased interest in body donations for plastination. A memorial to the body donors is the first full-body specimen.
“In the U.S. alone, we have over 600 donors,” she said.
“We have African-American twins who have decided to donate their bodies in Los Angeles. Their mother is also going to be a donor. A lot of people do it as a family affair.”
The company now has a body donation office in Los Angeles and an embalming center outside of L.A.
Although probably not appropriate for very small children, the Science Center says families should make the decision on whether to bring children to the exhibit. It runs through March 2.
